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Loud intermittent ticking ... It's back! Now with more videos and photos.

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    Loud intermittent ticking ... It's back! Now with more videos and photos.

    I've been hearing a loud intermittent ticking noise at idle. It increases with RPM and will fade away past 3K RPM. Generally I hear it when I'm idling at a stop light, but as I said it's intermittent so I don't hear it all the time. The noise is similar to two shot glasses being smacked together. It's not injector tick as it's much louder than that. It's very hard to pinpoint the noise as it only comes on ~30 seconds at a time. At first I thought it was coming from the valve cover, but it seems almost louder when I'm under the car (on ramps).

    I'm taking this to the shop on Monday as I've run out of ideas and skill to diagnose this. I'm guessing it could be a bad lifter, worn oil pump, or bad oil pressure relief valve. I'd like to hear what the M42 experts think.

    Here's some more, possibly relevant information:
    - '91 318is w/ 141K miles.
    - Timing guides and tensioner replaced last year, timing gears looked fine at the time.
    - Upper and lower oil pan gaskets replaced last year.
    - No oil leaks! Car doesn't burning any oil.
    - Oil filter housing gasket + o-ring replaced (as well as the engine mess under the intake) within the last 10K miles.
    - I've used both Rotella T6 5W-40 and Mobil 1 15W-50 oil.
    - This seemed to go away over the winter, so perhaps it has something to do with outside temperature?
    - It doesn't matter if the car has sat for 3 days or I've been driving for 3 hours. The sound will come and go regardless of the engine being cold or thoroughly warmed up.

    Thanks!
    Last edited by mike.bmw; 07-13-2019, 11:01 AM.

    #2
    Still have a fan shroud? (did the e30 even get one?)

    Motor mounts good?

    The fan hitting something can make a gawdawful racket, and if
    the engine's moving around, it'll be intermittent...

    all I got,

    t
    now, sometimes I just mess with people. It's more entertaining that way. george graves

    Comment


      #3
      Originally posted by TobyB View Post
      Still have a fan shroud? (did the e30 even get one?)

      Motor mounts good?

      The fan hitting something can make a gawdawful racket, and if
      the engine's moving around, it'll be intermittent...

      all I got,

      t
      Fan shroud is still in place. It isn't making contact, but re-checking motor an transmission mounts is a good idea. Thanks!

      The sound definitely sounds like it's internal to the motor. It would be great if it was something simple like an exhaust leak, but the intermittent behavior and no correlation to whether the engine is hot or cold makes me think it's not an exhaust leak.

      Comment


        #4
        Bring it to the College Park meet, we'll diagnose it.

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by roguetoaster View Post
          Bring it to the College Park meet, we'll diagnose it.
          I will try to make it back there for another meet sometime soon!
          Last edited by mike.bmw; 07-12-2018, 12:47 PM.

          Comment


            #6
            Without hearing it and not being there... just given that you're saying its coming from the valve cover... have you considered it being lifter tick? Try putting in top-end lubricant and see if that resolves it for the short term.

            Comment


              #7
              3 folks at RRT listened to it and agreed it's lifter noise. Thanks for everyone's suggestions and help!

              Comment


                #8
                Liqui-Moly should knock this out. Had the same issue and one shot of the good stuff took care of it for my M42.


                Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
                Current flame: E30 318iS Alpinweiss II slicktop / LSD - Joanne
                The old man: 1970 2002 Polaris(ish) slicktop / rat rod - Wallace
                The ex: E92 335i 6MT M-Sport - Betty
                The heavy: 2001 4Runner SR5 Sport (3rd Gen) - Fred

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by majdomo View Post
                  Liqui-Moly should knock this out. Had the same issue and one shot of the good stuff took care of it for my M42.

                  Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
                  Liqui-Moly oil or additive?

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by mike.bmw View Post
                    Liqui-Moly oil or additive?


                    Additive - it’s this stuff: https://products.liqui-moly.com/hydr...dditive-1.html


                    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
                    Current flame: E30 318iS Alpinweiss II slicktop / LSD - Joanne
                    The old man: 1970 2002 Polaris(ish) slicktop / rat rod - Wallace
                    The ex: E92 335i 6MT M-Sport - Betty
                    The heavy: 2001 4Runner SR5 Sport (3rd Gen) - Fred

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Bumping an old thread for an update...

                      Using Liqui Moly Lifter Additive seems to have fixed the intermittent ticking. Thanks for the suggestion!

                      As part of investigation to determine the cause, I dropped the lower oil pan and there were not any loose or missing bolts. No oil leaks. No exhaust leaks. Spark plugs were torqued (non had come loose). Injectors were ticking, but not making this specific louder ticking that was bothering me.

                      I've been running Mobil 1 15W50 for the last 3 oil changes without any burning/loss. This time I changed the oil, ran the engine up to temperature, and added the Liqui Moly. The intermittent ticking was still present initially, but it started to subside after about 50 miles. This morning I didn't hear the ticking at all during my 12 mile commute. This additive is supposed to clean varnish and clean blocked oil passages, so I'm assuming that's what happened.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Damn that was almost a year ago?!?!? I remember that post!

                        Glad it worked!


                        Ezekiel 25:17
                        Current flame: E30 318iS Alpinweiss II slicktop / LSD - Joanne
                        The old man: 1970 2002 Polaris(ish) slicktop / rat rod - Wallace
                        The ex: E92 335i 6MT M-Sport - Betty
                        The heavy: 2001 4Runner SR5 Sport (3rd Gen) - Fred

                        Comment


                          #13
                          I spoke too soon. It's back!

                          As I've said in the past, over the last 3 years the engine has gotten some love: Upper and lower oil pan gaskets have been replaced. Timing guides replaced. Timing case resealed. Water pump replaced. New timing chain tensioner. New injectors. New plugs, wires, coils. Engine is currently not leaking any oil.

                          Here's a video of the ticking sound (watch all the way through, it's intermittent): https://flic.kr/p/2gtrVQb

                          Here's what I've done to try to diagnose and remedy this:

                          - removed valve cover and inspected everything. There's no odd wear on the cam lobes:


                          - Video of chain play. Is this normal? https://flic.kr/p/2gxMwZ1

                          - Yes, the cam gears are pointy, but it's one of the cam sprockets that came pointy from the factory. See more here: http://www.m42club.com/forum/index.php?topic=19556.0

                          - dropped the lower oil pan to check for loose bolts, timing guide pieces, or a blocked sump (all checked out fine, though the upper pan gasket may be protruding slightly around the pickup path)



                          - replaced the timing chain tensioner (no effect).

                          - changed the oil (Mobil 1 synthetic 15W50) and added Liqui Moly Lifter Additive (no effect).

                          - fuel injector cleaner + 2 fresh tanks of gas (no effect).

                          - BMW lifter bleeding procedure (no effect).

                          - changed the oil again to a 5W40 synthetic (possibly louder after changing the oil).

                          - removed the alternator and A/C belts to verify it's not pulley noise (no effect). I did NOT remove the water pump belt as you replaced that 2 years ago so I assume it's still good.

                          - verified no oil leaks are present and I am not burning any oil between changes.

                          I have not checked the oil pressure, though the light hasn't come on. I do know the oil light functions because when I install a new oil filter the oil light comes on for a few seconds after initial startup. I've read that low oil pressure or a worn oil pump can cause the lifters to tick due to lack of oil flow to the top of the head.

                          I'm at a loss of what the noise is. Even with a mechanics stethoscope it's very hard to pinpoint where it's coming from.

                          Thanks for any input!

                          Comment


                          • bearusmc11
                            bearusmc11 commented
                            Editing a comment
                            That video is IDENTICAL to my engine. Its weird that its loud, goes away, loud, goes away. I'll have to try the additive.

                          #14
                          Did you hit it again with the Liqui-Moly additive? If nothing else it’s cheap and easy to try.


                          Ezekiel 25:17
                          Current flame: E30 318iS Alpinweiss II slicktop / LSD - Joanne
                          The old man: 1970 2002 Polaris(ish) slicktop / rat rod - Wallace
                          The ex: E92 335i 6MT M-Sport - Betty
                          The heavy: 2001 4Runner SR5 Sport (3rd Gen) - Fred

                          Comment


                            #15
                            I vote worn lifter. Don't think chemicals will fix that. The good news is they are easy to inspect and change.

                            Comment

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